Hearts and Minds
by CaketinTheHobo
Summary: Set during S08E02 of Supernatural. What happens if the Last of the Time Lords comes up for auction?
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, so this idea came about after I watched "The Rings of Akhaten", I thought the concepts between the barter system and the auction in "What's Up, Tiger Mommy?" were somewhat similar.**

**And so, this came about.  
Note, this is set during "What's Up Tiger Mommy?" (S08E02) and after "The Rings of Akhaten" (S07E08) and as such, contains spoilers for both.**

**Also, Clara does not feature in this story.**

**Anyway, enjoy!**

* * *

"Plan C tanked," Dean Winchester announced, taking his place in a seat next to his brother. The Word of God was getting farther and farther away from their reach; even getting a _look _at the thing was impossible.

"Maybe you should try Plan D for 'Dumbass'," a voice crowed from behind them, making Dean wish he'd been allowed his knife so he could stick it in Crowley's _goddamn _mouth right then. Screw getting the tablet, the satisfaction of seeing Crowley's life-force fade would be a victory in itself.

Sam Winchester was still processing the idea of bartering 5/8 of a virgin for a mythological hammer. _Why 5/8? _ He wasn't sure he wanted to know what the remaining 3/8 were for.

"And now for our next item," Beau, Plutus' assistant, announced. "We only recently acquired this item, and as such, it was not listed on our lists for sale and not shown in the viewing room beforehand."

At this announcement, a few of the prospective buyers sat up a little straighter, including Mr Vili, the creepy guy who'd just paid for Thor's hammer. Even Crowley looked interested. Beau nodded to a pair of the guards, who exited through one of the doors behind the auctioneer.

They returned quickly, bringing between them a man – well, something that _looked _like a man anyway. With all the supernatural beings around them, Sam and Dean couldn't be sure. Chains bound the man's wrists together – Sam would have bet good money there was some spell on them to prevent escape.

The new 'item' was dropped to the floor. He knelt, not looking up at the people now viewing him; ones towards the back even stood up to take a look.

"This, my fellow buyers, is the last Time Lord," Beau announced. "While legend and myth states they were _all _vanquished, this one survived, and _we _managed to procure it."

Beau turned to look at the kneeling man for a moment. "Stand up, let them look at you," he said, before continuing to address the buyers.

"For those who are not aware, the Time Lords are an ancient race from a world which is now lost. They were once branded the guardians of time, keeping an everlasting watch over the borders between parallel worlds, as well as the vortex of space and time. A powerful race, yes, but no more. Such power was lost in their extinction."

As Beau spoke, Dean looked at the man now stood in front of them. He kept his head bowed – a mass of floppy dark hair obscuring his facial features. For a second Dean entertained the idea of the guy having something like four eyes, before his gaze raked over the rest of the man. He wasn't sure what he'd been expecting, but purple tweed was _not _it.

Beau's next words broke into Dean's thoughts: "Time Lords possess the ability to see time in a non-linear sense. Everything that _has _happened, _could _happen, and _will _happen. They have some telepathic ability, but our friend here hasn't been forthcoming in demonstrating just how far it exceeds; they have almost eidetic memories; _and _most interestingly, they can speak almost every known language in existence."

"Why has this suddenly turned into a slave auction?" Kevin Tran whispered. Next to him, his mother covered her mouth with a hand, horrified at the new turn the auction had taken.

Sam noticed that the man's bowed head turned to the side slightly, like he'd heard them. Well, he wasn't human, maybe he did.

"Did you hear that?" Dean whispered to Sam. "_Every known language. _If this guy was kept with the tablet he might know what it says."

"Are you saying we should _buy _him?" Sam whispered back. "With _what? _Our Costco membership card? We're already trying to get the freaking tablet!"

"Do you wanna leave him with one of these guys?!" Linda Tran hissed.

"Our final piece of information about this piece is that nobody knows his name. This Time Lord chose to hide his name, instead he travelled using the moniker of-"

"-The Doctor," a voice interrupted from behind Sam and Dean. "His _name _is the Doctor," Crowley repeated.

At Crowley's announcement, the Time Lord's head snapped up, revealing a young face, framed by the fringe of dark hair, as well as a slightly-overlarge chin and deep-set green eyes.

His brow creased with recognition upon looking at Crowley.

"Canton?" he asked, his voice sounding a little cracked with disuse, but he cleared his throat and spoke again. "Canton Everett Delaware the Third?"

The man's voice was authoritative, accusing and disbelieving at the same time, and he spoke with an English accent. Dean certainly hadn't been expecting that one, but then again, he'd not been expecting the bow tie either. _Or _that this man knew Crowley, albeit by another name.

"You know this person, Mr Crowley?" Beau asked, suddenly more interested.

"I saw him die," Crowley said, standing up and walking forward. "You were definitely dead when I last saw you," he said.

The Doctor smirked. "_You_ were an old man when I last saw you. And you were American. And _Crowley?" _he asked. "Since when were you Crowley?"

"The _Third?" _Sam muttered, causing Crowley to turn to him.

"What, guy can't change his name? It was the sixties, alright?" He turned back to the Doctor. "What happened to your groupies? What was it – the Legs, the Nose and Mrs Robinson? _Loved _that reference when I finally saw the movie."

The Doctor held Crowley's gaze, before saying softly, "Gone."

"Enough." Plutus – the host of the auction – announced. "We are not here to discuss previous acquaintances, so I suggest, Mr Crowley, you either remove yourself from this sale or you _stop talking."_

Crowley glanced over at Plutus, before his gaze returned to the Doctor. "Sorry Doc," he shrugged, "but times have changed since we last talked."

He turned, making his way back to his seat behind the Winchesters.

"The _Doctor?" _Mr Vili asked. He stood, coming to stand directly in front of the man. They held each others' gaze for a moment, before Vili broke it, and spat at the man's feet. "You are a _defiler, _a destroyer of worlds. A being that committed genocide of _two races_, one of them being his own; a manipulator, callously sending those he called friends to their deaths. As for the Time Lords, I spit on them as well. They decimated the Great Vampires and the Racnoss, and _then _had the audacity to deem themselves a higher form of creature than any other, and took it upon themselves to _protect _the gateways between worlds. They deserved everything they got."

He turned away in disgust while many others in the room appraised the Doctor again. Vili's words about the Doctor almost seemed like they were addressed to someone else – the Doctor looked so unassuming it seemed impossible for him to kill even a fly, let alone an entire species. But Sam saw the look on his face, the almost imperceptible flash of pain that registered for an instant. He saw a man who repented for his actions every single day.

"Don't forget the time he orchestrated the moon landing video to coerce humanity into destroying an alien race," Crowley called out. "Although I _still _can't remember what the bastards look like," he muttered.

"_If _we're all quite done," Beau said, attempting to regain control of the situation, "the bidding shall start."

"Not sure why you're bidding on me really," the Doctor spoke up. "Like you said: the last of my species. I'm certainly not going to live out my life as a translator app for you – or a telepathic manipulator. I'm not really of use to any of you."

"Slavery's illegal," Linda Tran spoke up, unable to sit by and watch a man – alien or not – get sold to another party. "I won't allow this to happen."

At her comment, Plutus – and many others – broke into laughter.

"Ms Tran," he said condescendingly. "Do you really think a _human _is going to have any influence on the proceedings here? The sale _will _continue – a Time Lord is a unique item, like the others we offered here, and while I admire your courage, it will do little to help the Doctor here."

The Doctor, for his part, offered Linda a soft, sad smile.

"We need to do something," Kevin said. "My mom'll kill us if we don't."

"Yeah, but we have _nothing _to bid," Dean hissed. "And we were here for the tablet anyway! Unless we've got some magic item that can suddenly pay for him, we're not getting this guy for a defrauded credit card."

Next to him, Sam was silent. "Wait here," he said suddenly, rising. "I've got an idea."

He left the room quickly, leaving the other three frowning in his wake.

"Are there any bids?" Beau asked, bringing the attention to the front of the room, and the Doctor, who was inspecting the manacles on his wrists and looking not at all concerned at the fact he was being sold. He looked towards the back of the room, making eye contact with Samandriel, who had not spoken during the entire time.

"I would _love _to take him," Vili said, "3/8 of a virgin."

"Horn of a unicorn," Crowley offered, although it was clear his heart wasn't in it. "And that's all I'm bidding. I'm here for something else and I'm not going to waste my good bids on _you, _Doctor, even if we do go back."

"I wouldn't expect you to, _Crowley," _the Doctor replied, emphasising the name he used – clearly indicating that he saw that the Canton he knew had changed.

For a moment, nothing was said, until a woman near the front row spoke.

"The sword of Arthur Pendragon; Excalibur."

Kevin's mouth dropped open. _Did she just say Excalibur?_

"Ms Andarta, such an artefact would need to be displayed before a bid can be accepted," Beau said. "A formality, but one we must have to ensure we do not have cheats, or those who bid things they do not own."

The woman named Andarta nodded to the man sitting on her right, who stood, pulling a case next to him up. He opened it, revealing a sword – silver and gold with runes inscribed down the middle.

"May I?" Beau asked, holding out a hand. Ms Andarta nodded, allowing Beau to take the sword in his hands for inspection. Even the Doctor was intrigued by the blade, peering over Beau's shoulder to inspect it.

"It's Excalibur," he announced before Beau could say anything. "The runes are ancient British, reading _'take me up' _on one side and _'cast me away' _on the other. Words only ever associated with Caledfwlch."

"Caledfwlch being the Welsh name for Excalibur," Crowley offered. "Never understood the Welsh language, it was like someone sneezed and made a word."

"Well, now the authenticity has been confirmed, the bid now stands at the sword of Arthur Pendragon. Any other takers?" Beau asked.

"C'mon Sammy," Dean muttered, wondering where on Earth his brother had gone. What was it that he thought they could bid anyway?

At that moment, almost as if he'd heard his brother, Sam arrived. He seemingly had nothing, but he stepped forward towards Beau and held his hand out.

"What are you bidding?" Beau asked, curious at the item Sam held.

"An amulet that can help a person locate God," Sam announced. Behind him, Dean frowned. He'd dropped that thing into a motel room bin after Cas had brought it back. Sam had _kept it? _

At the back of the room, the angel, Samandriel, sat up a little straighter, eyes fixed on the amulet that his brother had once tried to use to find his father during the apocalypse. He'd heard of its existence long ago, and after Lucifer and Michael had fallen had often wondered what had become of it.

Beau took the amulet from Sam, inspecting it. He clearly wasn't convinced by it, and handed it back to Plutus, who looked much more intrigued.

"You could have used that for the God-rock y'know," Crowley said. "Instead of the Doctor here. _He'll _probably escape anyway in that box of his."

The Doctor shook his head. "The box isn't here," he said. "What, you think I'd let a bunch of _pretend _gods get their hands on it?" he asked incredulously. "And before you all start complaining, let me tell you something – I've travelled through the universe and _beyond _for over a thousand years now, and I've never met anything that _remotely _looks like a God. Only recently I encountered something revered as a God, and do you know what it was? A _parasitical sun. _I've met would-be gods and I've met things that have no concept of God, I've even met something that claimed it was every devil in existence, from Lucifer to the Kaled God of War. And I threw _him _into a black hole. But I've never encountered a God – you might have the name of Odin's brother, Mr Vili, or a Celtic goddess of War, Ms Andarta, but you're far from a true God, in my opinion. And as for _that," _he gestured to the amulet Plutus now held, "I've yet to be convinced that there is _anything _in this universe and beyond that could help you locate a deity of _any kind, _real or not."

"It is not its properties I am interested in," Plutus said. "While it can indeed detect God – _real or not – _it was once very important to many people. This was yours once, was it not?" he asked Dean, who swallowed, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Yeah," he answered, wondering how Plutus knew. "What about it?"

"It was of great sentimental value, to you, your brother, and to someone else," Plutus continued. "Your brother obviously kept it because he thought you might want it back, and now he is sacrificing it for a creature he never knew of until today, and today he's learned that _this_ Time Lord was the destroyer of his own species. Why is that, may I ask, Sam Winchester?"

"None of your business," Sam returned, ignoring the look this Doctor was now giving him.

"The bid is accepted," Plutus said, "not on its properties, but on the sacrifice made to use it."

Beau was silent for a moment, before he smiled. "Right. Any more bids?"

Sam went to sit next to his brother, ignoring the look Dean was giving him.

"Crowley's right," Kevin said. "You could have used it for the tablet."

"Actually, no, he couldn't," Beau interrupted. "Anything related to a God cannot be bought with something else related to the same God. House rules, unfortunately. You trade in a car for a newer model – you get a variation of the same thing. The same principle applies here. Anyway," he changed the subject, "If there are no more bids-"

He looked expectantly round the room. Mr Vili was looking particularly annoyed that he hadn't been able to procure the Doctor, but he'd gotten his intended prize of Mjolnir.

"-the Time Lord is yours, Sam Winchester. You may do with him as you please, although I'm afraid you cannot remove the cuffs until the auction is over."

"All right," Sam said, as Linda Tran gave him a grateful smile – throughout the entire bidding process she'd been silent, horrified as to what was happening.

The Doctor, for his part, grinned. "Right, _so, _I can finally get off this stage now?" he asked. "Good."

He stepped forward, before turning back, drawing eye-to-eye with Beau.

"By the way," he said softly. "What you did to me to _get me here _was callous and cruel. I may or may not be this great destroyer of legend, but I _pray _that you are not one to experience just _how much _I can destroy of you."

He paused for a moment, before smiling, in which Beau got a glimpse of the creature Vili had spat upon. "After all, what's one more death after genocide of your own kind?"

_**A/N: Yeah, so I really like writing a threatening Doctor. Also, the writing on the sword of Excalibur and it's description I took from the Merlin wikia - just thought I'd make a small reference to a great show and see who noticed! Also, the character of Andarta is indeed named after a Celtic warrior goddess - she's from Gaul.  
And yes, there is more to come, we've got the whole tablet segment to deal with, and I'm hoping to write more interactions between the Doctor and Crowley.  
I also firmly believe that Sam did pick up that damn amulet, in the same way I believe it would indeed outbid Excalibur.  
So yeah, I hope you enjoyed this chapter!  
Also for those of you waiting for a sequel to Spider's Print, do not fear, there is an idea being fleshed out in my mind. I just need to get this fic and then another short one out of my system.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_"After all, what's one more death after genocide of your own kind?"_

The Doctor turned back, purple jacket spinning with him, before crossing the room to where Sam, Dean and the Trans sat. The brothers shared a look, both thinking that _maybe _this time they'd made the wrong decision in bidding for what looked like a slightly unhinged murderer.

He sat down in an empty seat next to Kevin's mother, before holding out a hand. "Hello, I'm the Doctor." He smiled, looking completely harmless. "And you would be...?"

"Linda Tran," was the reply, the woman taking the Doctor's proffered hand and shaking.

"Pleasure to meet you," he beamed. "I assume this is your son," he nodded to Kevin, "I can see the familial resemblance; in the same way that I can tell that these two are brothers."

"We now come to our final item of the day," Beau announced, bringing the room to a tense silence – aside from the Doctor, who fidgeted in his chair, crossing legs at the ankle.

"The word of God – capital G – very old, and very rare."

The tablet was shown around, in which the Doctor sat up straighter all of a sudden, squinting at the tablet held in Beau's hand. He reached into his jacket, pulling out something metallic, pressing a button.

The thing buzzed, loudly, a green light illuminating at the end.

"Doctor, tampering with the merchandise is not advised," Beau said. "You're not our property anymore, and as such I _don't _have to worry about not damaging you."

"Keep your knickers on, I'm only scanning it," the Doctor said, holding his gadget aloft. "Sonic screwdriver, see?"

"Are you _kidding me?" _Dean muttered to Sam. "Hey, Buzz Lightyear, stop it with the gadgetry already."

The Doctor huffed in annoyance, before inspecting the gadget he'd pointed at the tablet. "Well, I can tell you that it's old. Millions of years old, perhaps. Interesting language, though, and one that I can't translate, so there goes _your _plan," he said to Dean. So he _had_ heardtheir conversation.

At that point, Crowley rose, making his opening bid: "Three _billion _dollars."

Samandriel, obviously in keen combat for the tablet, rose also: "The Mona Lisa."

Sam and Dean turned at that one, giving Samandriel incredulous looks, but not before Crowley broke in with his next offer.

"The _real _Mona Lisa, where she's topless."

"_Please_," the Doctor muttered, "Da Vinci _never _painted that. I met the man and he was certainly not into the female figure."

"Vatican City," Samandriel countered, ignoring the Doctor.

"Alaska."

"Palin and a Bridge to Nowhere?" Beau asked. "No thanks."

"Y'know, in three thousand years Alaska becomes the greatest holiday destination in the cosmos," the Doctor said to Linda Tran, who raised her eyebrows at him.

"All right" Crowley said, "The Moon."

Silence reigned for a second, before Dean turned and asked incredulously "You're bidding _The Moon?"_

"Claimed it for Hell," Crowley said. "You think a guy named Buzz gets to space without making a deal? _And _I was directly involved with the Apollo 11 launch," he added. "Sad to say it Doc, but the reason I was in Nixon's office wasn't just because he'd asked for me. I often like to get personally involved in my deals – gets the job done properly that way. I just wasn't counting on the alien invasion part or _you_."

"That's me," the Doctor said, "Turning up when nobody expects them to. Turning up _alive _when no-one expects them to."

"I'm sorry gentlemen, but the reserve price for this item hasn't been reached," Beau said. "So, in order to stimulate the bidding we're going to add an item to this lot."

He pointed a finger: "Kevin Tran, prophet of the Lord."

Linda's gasp was quickly followed by her cry as Kevin suddenly appeared on the bidding platform, chained to a railing. Sam and Dean rose, only to be forced back down into their seats by one of Plutus' lackeys.

"Mr Tran is the only person on this Earth who can read this tablet, which makes them a perfect matching set," Beau said.

The Doctor stood, slowly, eyes cold and hard; and fixed on Beau.

"This is human enslavement," he said. "Galactic law states that the enslavement of the people of a Level 5 planet by another species is a punishable offence. You are committing a crime outlawed by the Shadow Proclamation, so if you _think-"_

_"Please, _Doctor, do shut up," Beau said. "Many of the creatures and people in this room are so close to human that the Shadow Proclamation does not deign to recognise the difference. Take Mr Crowley here – a demon, and as such was _once _a human. Samandriel there, the angel, is a creature worshipped in a _human _religion. We are all creatures from human ideals, and as such, are _human _in the eyes of the Shadow Proclamation. And _slavery among species _is not punishable by galactic law."

"The _Shadow Proclamation?" _Sam asked, as the Doctor glared at Beau.

"Bit like an outer-space police, to my knowledge," Crowley informed them. "Although they apparently aren't very good."

"So, do I hear a bid of-" Beau began, but he was interrupted when Linda rose.

"No, stop!" she cried. "I'll give you whatever you want- I have a 401K- my house-"

"Good effort, Ms Tran," Beau said condescendingly, "but I'm afraid this is a little out of your price range."

Linda Tran looked like she was about to give up, but she spoke again.

"My soul. _I bid my soul."_

"Mom, _don't!" _Kevin shouted, attempting to free himself from the chains.

"Interesting," Plutus commented.

"Are you sure? That's a _big _move," Dean said.

"If it's souls that you're after," Crowley said, "I can give you a million souls."

Dean turned to Samandriel. "Hey, flyboy, you gonna get in on this?"

Samandriel gave Dean a look. "We guard the souls of heaven, we don't horse-trade them."

Before anyone else could speak up, the Doctor placed his hand on Linda's shoulder.

"A Time Lord's regeneration," he stated.

"Doctor, you have to bid something _real," _Beau said.

The Doctor snorted, stepping forward to stand next to the auctioneer. "You, sir, are woefully uninformed about my people, aren't you? You _completely _missed out the bit about us having two hearts in your description, as well as a description of our best part – regeneration." He turned to the assembled group for a moment. "You see, Time Lords have this way of escaping death. We cheat it. When we're dying, our cells rejuvenate – they change completely. I become a _completely _different person. New face, new mouth, new _everything. _The face you see before you is not the only face I've had."

"If you can do all that, then why are all your people dead?" Dean asked.

"Just because we regenerate doesn't mean we can't die," the Doctor said. "I can die before I can regenerate – Crowley here can account for that one. What _exactly _did you think that glow was at the lake in Utah?" he asked.

"I don't know," Crowley admitted. "But I saw it stopped pretty soon after the astronaut blasted you again. And setting fire to your body was pretty much conclusive."

"Right, we can die before regeneration starts. But the point stands. If you're near death or close to death or just getting old, regeneration occurs."

"And you're willing to give that up? Surely that doesn't count as much of a _bid_," Crowley said.

"Actually, a Time Lord is limited to their number of regenerations," the Doctor said. "This form is my eleventh, but I also used one when I got shot by a Dalek – I transferred the energy to a matching bio-receptacle – but the regeneration still stands. I am offering _my last _regeneration."

"You have yet to _prove _that such a phenomenon exists, Doctor," Beau accused, causing the Doctor to round on him.

"So, you want proof that I'm a Time Lord, is that it?" the Doctor asked. "You mean, besides the way I _see_ Kevin Tran here? You say prophet; I say fixed point in space and time. Kevin Tran is a _fact_, and frankly looking at him makes me want to throw up – nothing against you Kevin, I'm sure you're a great person," he amended, "but fixed points are _never _meant to be objects. You're just _wrong. _Fixed points in time are _events – _Pompeii, the launch of Vostok 1, even my death at Lake Silencio in Utah. Fixed _people _are impossibly rare, and to my eyes, they're abominations. No offense," he grinned at Kevin.

"But still, after all that, you want something that demonstrates I am a Time Lord – even after you just _sold _me as one," the Doctor confirmed, absently rubbing his manacled wrist.

He turned on the spot, before pointing to Sam. "You – Sam, was it? Come here."

Sam stood, slowly, uncertainly, before stepping forward to the Doctor.

"Blimey you're tall," the Doctor said, squinting up at Sam's towering figure. "Right, give me your hand. Your left hand, if you please."

"Why?" Sam asked, frowning at the man.

"_Because _I said so. You want to see the amazing alien-y powers or not?!" he asked. "Consider it repayment for you _buying _me," he said, emphasising the word to indicate his disgust at the practice.

Sam held out his hand, the Doctor practically snatching it up and examining it.

"You got this scar a while ago, yes?" he asked, indicating the V-shaped welt on Sam's hand, "and judging by the stitching you _didn't _go to a hospital to get it fixed. Now, Mr Beau and Mr Plutus, you can both see this scar, right?" He asked them, before continuing on without waiting for their answer. "Well, here comes your first lesson in Time Lord Genetics – regeneration energy can be summoned at will."

It was in that moment that the Doctor's hand – the one that held onto Sam's – glowed, an eerie mix of gold and orange. The air swam with the colours, surrounding the Doctor's hand, then around Sam's. Sam's eyes widened as he watched the shifting light, then he looked up at the Doctor, who was staring at _him, _a small grin forming on his face.

Then he let go, and the energy faded. Sam inspected his hand. _Nothing. _Just clean, new skin.

"Holy shi-"

"All right Rapunzel, we get the idea," Beau said. "But surely now you've just _lost _your bid, considering you've used this energy to heal a scar."

"Actually, I just gave him fifty years of my life," the Doctor said, as Sam took his seat next to Dean again, staring at his now unscarred hand. "It's the same principle, though, instead of years of my life, I give you an _entire _regeneration."

"As interesting as that demonstration was, Doctor," Plutus said. "It is not enough to outbid Ms Tran's sacrifice of her soul. This little lady's soul is the most valuable thing she has – it's everything. Are you willing to offer everything? Mr Crowley?"

Crowley clearly saw the bidding was about to go very far away from him, and had stood up again. "Fine. You win. I bid _my _own soul."

Clearly he hadn't been expecting Plutus to laugh at his latest offer.

"Mr Crowley, you don't have a soul. Doctor?" he asked, looking back at the Time Lord, who was deep in thought.

"Regeneration is a part of a Time Lord's soul. More than that, it's a part of at Time Lord's future: who we'll become when we change our form. I was recently on the Rings of Akhaten – a place very far away – but while there, you paid for things with your memories. Something of importance to you. The God there – the parasitical sun I told you about – devoured souls. It devoured your memories and your past and what made you the person you are. But it wasn't enough. Until a friend of mine offered it a _future. _An unused future, a life cut short. There's only one past, but the _future _is something that is _always _changing. And I can see that."

He sighed, looking to the ceiling for a moment.

"Perhaps the key here isn't my future, but my past as well."

There was silence for a few seconds, before Beau spoke: "So, what are you offering?"

"On top of the regeneration?" the Doctor asked. He smiled softly.

"I'm offering my _name." _

_**A/N: So this scene sticks pretty close to the events of the episode of SPN, aside from the Doctor interactions. For those who are wondering, Vostok 1 was the space shuttle that Yuri Gagarin - the first human in space - travelled in. I think that's more a fixed point than the moon landings simply due to the fact that we made it out of the atmosphere. The moon was a result of that event. Pompeii and the Doctor's "death" we know are fixed points. I also believe Kevin Tran would be a fixed point in the Whoniverse, albeit a mortal one.  
So yeah, the Doctor's bidding his name. No, I'm not going to reveal what it is during the course of this fic - how could I?  
Anyway, hope you all enjoy this update!**_


	3. Chapter 3

_"I'm offering my name." _

"Somehow I don't think that'll outbid an entire soul," Dean said after a few moments silence.

"What, the name of the creature that burned the Medusa Cascade? That annihilated the races of Time Lord and Dalek?" the Doctor asked. "Canton – I mean, Crowley – you recall the Silence, yes? Or, their mantra at least."

Crowley frowned. "Silence will fall when the question is asked," he said. "You're telling me the question is _your name?"_

"The question I've been running from my entire life," the Doctor confirmed. "Doctor _who?"_

"Is he being serious? Or is he just _that _full of himself?" Dean asked.

To their surprise, it was Samandriel who spoke next: "_'On the fields of Trenzalore, at the fall of the Eleventh, when no creature can speak falsely or fail to answer, a question that must never be answered will be asked: the first question, hidden in plain sight. Doctor who?_' An old prophecy, but always with the same outcome: Silence will fall."

"Exactly," the Doctor said. "My name is something that will _apparently _cause the fall of a race of aliens. Another one," he added. "And for one time only I am offering _it _and my final regeneration."

"Why?" Sam suddenly asked.

"I was wondering the same thing," Vili added. "Why not just kill everyone here and be done with the matter? It never stopped you before."

A sudden stillness fell over the Doctor, and he turned to face Vili.

"How much do you know of the Time Wars?" he asked Vili. "The Last Great Time War, to be exact?"

Vili shifted uncomfortably under the Time Lord's gaze. "It was a great war, between the Daleks and Time Lords. And _you, _Doctor, killed them all."

"I did many things during the War," the Doctor said. "I led a platoon of battle-TARDISes against a Dalek fleet. I saw Arcadia fall; I saw the Dalek command ship fall into the jaws of the Nightmare Child. I saw the Could've-Been King, with his army of Meanwhiles and Neverweres. I saw _hell, _during that war, where people died and came back to life within seconds, to fight again. Because that was the nature of the Time War. It was fought _everywhere, _there was _no _escape. And in the Time War, I saw what would happen if _someone _didn't end it. And who was there to end it? Another Time Lord? The Daleks? An outside party?" – The Doctor laughed briefly, bitterly – "No. There was nobody else who could end it. So I did. I destroyed my race, my people, and my _children. _For you. For creation. Because I saw this war would _never _end, not until the destruction was complete and the universe lay in _ruins._"

The Doctor took a breath, his voice verging on breaking. "I had to _stand _and _watch _while my planet was _ripped apart _in an explosion. The explosion ruptured through Time itself, obliterating Gallifrey completely. I can _never _go back. I have no home, no kin, just the vast, empty universe – a universe that _convulsed _when I ended the War. My people are all-but forgotten, but I can still _see _the War, I can still _hear _my people, _everywhere _I go."

The Doctor turned back to Vili. "I am not that creature anymore, bathed in the blood of my enemies. I'm just the Doctor. The man who fixes things. So, in answer to your questions, I'm a person who _has _given everything for people who know nothing of his existence. This sacrifice is _nothing _in comparison."

Suddenly, the Doctor's sadness and pain was gone, and he snapped back into a (somewhat) cheerful mood. "But I can't give you that, so I'll give you the next best thing."

"The secret of _who _ended the Time Wars," Plutus said, finally speaking up. "It means a lot to you," he added, "and considering the prophecy related to it is mentioned by the host of heaven itself, it means a lot to someone else as well."

Plutus nodded. "The bid is accepted. Congratulations, Doctor. The tablet is yours."

"_Thank you," _Linda Tran whispered, shocked by the sudden turn of events - this complete stranger offering _everything _for her son.

The only one who wasn't impressed by the Doctor's actions was Crowley. "_Bollocks," _he muttered to himself, before standing. "Looks like you save the day again, Doc. Maybe I should have let Nixon and the Secret Service shoot you."

"You wouldn't," the Doctor said assuredly. "You were too enthralled in the mystery presented to you."

Crowley smirked. "Suppose you're right."

* * *

The evening had drawn in, darkness was falling outside. The auction had closed; those who had not bought anything left. In the main room were the Doctor, Sam, Dean, and Linda Tran. Kevin hadn't been returned to them, due to the fact he was part of the sale.

The Doctor was sat, head bowed, forearms resting on his legs. He idly toyed with the manacles still encircling his wrists – since the auction wasn't officially over, they remained on his hands. Sam noticed the Doctor's movement, and spoke up.

"How did they capture you?" he asked, causing the Doctor to look up.

"A trick," the Doctor said. "A simple one, really, one I should have seen. I was- I was visiting friends, I suppose you could say. My best friends. And while there, they _lured _me into a trap."

He span on his seat, directly facing Sam and Dean. "My people had this power. The elders had this _ability _to summon a Time Lord's transport at will. Well, in your terms it's like using your mind to hail a cab but the point stands that if I were _anywhere _in the universe, I could be taken back to Gallifrey. It seems that this technology is no longer exclusive to my people. In fact, I thought it so similar that I even _hoped _that they'd survived. Again."

He sighed. "Just an old man's hope, though. And now, here I am. Bidding my soul and my name for you lot. What does this tablet mean to you anyway?"

While Sam and Dean gave a brief explanation of the tablet – and basically their lives – Linda Tran found herself next to Samandriel. He offered her a smile, before speaking.

"My name is Samandr- Alfie. I'm an angel."

"Who works at Weiner Hut?" Linda asked, raising an eyebrow.

"No, this is uh-" the angel began, but stopped himself short. "It doesn't matter. What you were prepared to do here, what the Doctor did, was amazing. I want you to know that my friends and I can protect your son. The Winchesters are exceptional men, but... they're just men. If Kevin comes with us-"

"Oh, no," Linda interrupted. "The last time the angels tried to help my son, I watched them die, and Kevin went missing for a year. So, no offense, but I'm gonna take my chances with them."

Samandriel nodded in response, offering her a sad smile. They turned back to the others, where Sam and Dean were finishing their explanation to the Doctor, who looked _very _interested in their motives for wanting the tablet.

"So, it can close hell's gates?" the Doctor asked thoughtfully. "Are you even sure it's hell?"

"Trust me," Dean said. "It is."

The look in his face made the Doctor stop questioning further. Instead, he nodded, standing. "Well, as long as your motives are pure..."

"You didn't know that earlier," Linda Tran said. "How come you did what you did with _no idea _what you were doing it for?"

"When I saw the tablet, in the other room, it gave me a headache. I can read and speak _every _language in the cosmos. I've only ever encountered one which I couldn't, and that one spelt bad news. Now, this tablet is bad, there's no doubt about it, but here you are, _humans_, going against things that are most certainly _not human _for it. And you're certainly not going for power – no person in their right mind sacrifices a soul for something that gives power. What's power to someone who can't enjoy it?" he asked. "Of course, the best thing would be for you lot to destroy it, but I know that won't happen. So, I go for the next best thing," he said simply. "Those who do not wish for power."

"How do you know we aren't after power?" Sam asked, curious.

"'_I have both held and beheld unlimited power and of it I know but one thing: it drives men mad.'" _The Doctor said.

"Alexander the Great," Sam supplied, when Dean frowned.

"I know you're not after power simply because you both have held and beheld it. Look at the power you held when you used that amulet," the Doctor said to Sam. "The people here didn't give me an ounce of respect, but you, a _human, _someone completely beneath them, did. More than that, you have the respect of Samandriel there, and you've certainly put a quake in Crowley's boots. _Power_ is something that we all experience, either on the receiving or giving end. You two have clearly been on both, otherwise you would seek the tablet for other reasons; you would seek to _use _it to barter, like the people here. But no, you seek to use it for the good of humanity, as far as I can tell. Look at the extent Crowley and Samandriel went to bid on it. _You _bid on it so _they _wouldn't get their hands on it – no offense – " he added to the angel – "and you were willing to sacrifice _everything _for it. Clearly you weren't doing it for power, at least in the sense that usually means a bad ending."

The Doctor smiled for a moment. "Just call me Sherlock Holmes."

Dean rolled his eyes, before standing also when Beau entered the room. "You can go collect your items now," he said. "Oh, and Doctor, you'll need to stay a moment so I can remove your cuffs. They're designed so your soul stays where it should, but seeing as we don't know how much of you'll be left after your donation, we'll have to remove them."

"'Donation'," the Doctor quoted quietly, smirking. He nodded to the Winchesters and Linda. "I'll catch up," he said. Samandriel nodded silently to the Doctor, before disappearing, the sounds of wings being the only hint at his true nature. The Doctor stared for a second, a disbelieving smile on his face, before his attention was drawn back to Beau.

* * *

"Mjolnir, I've missed you," Mr Vili said, lovingly holding the hammer in his arms. Sam raised his eyebrows, eyes following the man as he moved to the other side of the room. Behind them, the Doctor and Beau entered the room.

"Where's the kid?" Dean asked, addressing Plutus. The man sighed, slightly in annoyance, before snapping his fingers. Kevin, looking a little surprised at the sudden teleportation, appeared next to them, where he was enveloped in his mother's arms.

"What're you gonna do with his-" Sam gestured to the Doctor, "-soul?" he eventually settled on.

"Whatever I want," was the reply. "I might sell it, or maybe I'll just tuck it away with my other precious objects, let them keep me warm at night." He laughed softly. The Doctor didn't even bat an eyelid; he straightened his shoulders and held Plutus' gaze.

"What will you give first?" he asked. "Name or regeneration?"

The Doctor thought for a moment. "Name," he said eventually. "Don't really know what happens once I lose my regenerations..."

"Whenever you're ready," Plutus said, somewhat graciously.

The Doctor was silent for a good while.

"I'm waiting..." Plutus said, slightly annoyed.

"_Bollocks," _the Doctor muttered, causing those around him to frown. "You _had _to go and do that, didn't you?"

It wasn't clear who the Doctor was talking to, when suddenlyhe stepped back, body convulsing like it had received an electric shock. Then, suddenly, he slapped himself on the cheek.

"Oh, now that's not fair, Doctor, I _told _you to play nice," he said aloud.

Dean had recognised the swear word, however, and the tone in which it had been said.

"Doctor?" he questioned, already moving into a defensive position.

In response, the Doctor looked up, eyes turning a deep, dark red. He spoke in a voice that _wasn't _the voice of the Doctor. "_Hello boys."_

He snapped his hands out, sending the Winchesters flying to nearby walls, while Plutus gaped.

"No," he said. "You can't. My warding spells."

"Your girl Friday showed me a few loopholes," the Doctor/Crowley said, causing Plutus' gaze to fall on Beau, who smiled and shrugged. "And all it cost me was an island in the South Pacific. I love a bargain."

It was at that point that Beau decided to act, and stabbed Plutus from behind with a stake. As soon as Plutus fell, the Doctor was there, pulling the stake from Plutus' heart and throwing at Kevin's guard.

"Can't do all my tricks, but I can do-" he was cut off, as the Doctor's body convulsed again. This time, his manner changed completely.

"I will _not _permit this to go on Crowley," he said, almost as if he were reprimanding himself. As Dean picked himself up from the floor, he saw the look on the Doctor's face. And it was pained, like he was trying to hold back some sort of mental force.

_Was he... was he fighting possession?_

"Get. Out. Of. Me." The Doctor intoned, before his body convulsed again, and he reverted back to his original tone and mannerisms. Crowley was back.

"If I had a penny for every time I'd heard _that," _he said, stooping to pick up the Word of God, which had fallen to the floor in the ensuing chaos. "Now Doctor, stay _put _this time. Stop trying to ferret your way out."

He threw out his hand again, sending the Winchesters – and this time, the Trans too – skidding across the floor again.

"I could do this all day," he said, a grin sitting uncomfortably on his features. "But alas, places to be, people to kill. And one out of two ain't bad. Catch you later, Kevin!"

With that, he fled the room. Dean was the first to pick himself up, and he made a grab for the demon-killing knife he'd been forced to surrender. He bolted after Crowley, who was _extremely _quick on the Doctor's long-limbs.

Or, he would have been, if it were not for the Doctor fighting the possession every inch of the way.

_**A/N: So, yes, here's the latest update!  
To the reviewer who asked about Stull (and then I guess "Swan Song") being a fixed point, in my opinion, the meeting at the cemetery was fixed. What happened in the course of said meeting was not. Sam's ability to overcome Lucifer etc was all part of a flux moment. In my opinion anyway. I hope that makes sense.  
Also the bit where the Doctor slaps himself is because Crowley swore and the Doctor managed to fight back enough to counter that. Because he's such an innocent soul, I think a basic swearword like that would probably make him do something like that. The reason for his swearing was because the Doctor 'blocked' him, like he did with Cassandra in "New Earth".  
To the reviewer who asked why Clara wasn't in this fic, she's not here simply because I couldn't see a plausible way to fit her in, and at the end of "The Rings of Akhaten" you were given the impression that she'd gone home for a bit - maybe a night or something.  
I couldn't resist the speech about the Time War, I even researched all of that stuff for it, so the information in the speech is within Doctor Who canon.  
As for the whole "Beheld power" speech, I'm not as sold on it, but I felt there needed to be a reason for the Doctor's help. And to use Alexander The Great's words, the Doctor is indeed a man who has both "held and beheld unlimited power". As have the Winchesters. And each of them saw the way it drove people mad. So yes.**_  
_**I hope you all enjoyed the update!**_  
_**The question is, can we work out how the Doctor's gonna force Crowley out...?**_


	4. Chapter 4

Dean had almost caught up with the Doctor when he crashed into a pillar, before throwing his hand out to the hunter, who skidded to a halt.

_"Stay back!" _the Doctor shouted, before speaking aloud to himself. "Whatever made you _good, _Canton, has clearly been destroyed by what made you Crowley."

His face changed, Dean quickly working out that the Doctor was currently in the midst of a mind-fight with the King of Hell.

"Oh, _please," _was the reply, clearly Crowley, "Canton is _nothing _compared to me. Canton was a five-minute phase. _I _am forever. And if you think that I'm going to be reprimanded by a mere _child-"_

The Doctor slapped himself on the cheek, and clearly the Time Lord won the round.

"You have _no idea _who you're dealing with, Crowley!" he said, before doubling over as his body was wracked with pain; the demon inside him attempting to regain his hold. "I'm not a regular human whose brain you can turn into play-dough."

"Yes, I quite clearly got that when I found that you'd _locked out _your brain," Crowley answered, straightening up. "Although, not all of it – who's _Clara? _You've _clearly _moved on from Ms Pond and co-"

_Slap. _Dean stood watching in slight amazement - his curiosity had won over his desire to stab Crowley in the face no matter what meatsuit he was wearing; he wanted to see if the Doctor could _win._

_"She _is under my protection. As for my _friends, _you do _not _get to talk about them. You lost the _right _to talk about them as soon as you became _this-"_

"-_this what? _You can't call _me _anything worse than what you are, Doctor."

The Doctor was silent for a few seconds, before he looked at Dean.

"Well, that shut him up, didn't it?" Crowley said to Dean. The latter immediately started moving again, pinning the Doctor's body to the pillar, knife to his throat.

In the next second, he changed again – Dean saw it deep within the Doctor's eyes, and he smiled at the man. "Thanks," he said. "He nearly won there. Made me emotional. Made me _angry. _If there's one thing that's bad it's an angry Time Lord."

He took stock of the situation in front of him: Dean, holding the knife to his throat, unsure whether he should go for the kill-shot or let the Doctor have his way; Sam and the Trans entering the room, Linda Tran holding on to a bloody shoulder; and the demon currently worming its way through his brain, slowly gaining ground over his mind again.

"Don't suppose you have any walnuts to hand, do you?" he asked Dean, his fingers flexing around Dean's wrist, preventing the hunter from slicing open his carotid. At Dean's surprise and then faint shake of the head, he nodded. "Thought not. Crowley?" he spoke loudly, addressing the demon that was currently poking into his frontal lobe, "This is your last warning. You leave now or I _make you."_

_"Oh yeah?" _was the sneered answer as Crowley gained his foothold again, although Dean wondered whether the Doctor had _let _him gain control, just to reason with him, to let him speak. "What're you gonna do, _yell _at me some more? Because I own this body now. You can't even force me out by throwing up."

Dean suddenly became aware that the Doctor's hand – the one that held the demon-killing knife away from his throat – had started to glow. The same glow that had appeared when he'd healed Sam's scar.

"I'm a _Time Lord, _Crowley," the Doctor side spat. "I can force you out by other means."

"_Bollocks," _the Crowley side managed, as the glow became more and more apparent. "You're bluffing."

"_Am I?" _the Doctor asked, before he lashed out with a strength that belied his wiry frame, pushing Dean backwards, into his brother.

What happened next was a combination of awe-inspiring and _insane. _

Regeneration. Not only that; regeneration with a ruby-red smoke being forced out of the Doctor's mouth. A golden light streamed from his hands and head, completely engulfing the Doctor's figure. The Winchesters and the Trans could do nothing but stare at the spectacle, the red and gold intertwining as the gold pushed away the red.

Then, as the last of the smoke left, the gold stopped abruptly. It was almost _too _abrupt, the Doctor crashing to the floor, unmoving, eyes closed.

The humans in the room gaped at the Doctor's prone body, before their attention was drawn to the door at the back of the room opening.

_Of course _it was Crowley, brushing off the coat on his regular meatsuit. He took advantage of the Winchesters' amazement at the Time Lord, and picked up the tablet that had been resting near the door since the Doctor had forced Crowley out.

"Well, that was exciting," he said, before coughing suddenly, expelling an eerily familiar golden light from his mouth. He frowned, wiping his mouth, but coughed again.

"_Bastard," _he said, glaring at the Doctor. "You'll pay for that."

Then, he was gone, and the tablet too.

"You okay?" Sam asked his brother, who nodded.

"What happened?" Dean asked, nodding to Linda Tran, noting her bloody shoulder.

"Beau pulled a gun, grazed her shoulder. Took him down, though, and that creepy guy too."

Dean nodded as Sam stepped forward and crouched by the Doctor. "What happened here?" he asked, pressing his fingers to the man's neck, checking for a pulse.

"Tell you later; let's get out of here."

* * *

"Wow. Guy goes to Purgatory for a year and all hell breaks loose," Dean announced, leaning triumphantly back on his chair. Sam, sitting on the bed of the as-ever dingy motel room they currently inhabited, looked up.

"Check this out," Dean continued. "A jogger in Minneapolis got their heart ripped out."

Sam frowned, crossing the room. "I'm guessing literally?"

"Only way that interests me. And then, there's another article from six months ago. Same thing happens, also in Minneapolis. What does that tell us?"

"Stay out of Minneapolis," Sam answered. "Aren't you forgetting something, though?" he asked.

"What?"

"We've got a comatose guy in our motel room."

Sam indicated the Doctor, lying on one of the beds. He'd not woken up since his act in the warehouse. They hadn't been able to take him to the hospital; a quick check with a stethoscope had told them the Doctor _had _been telling the truth about his hearts. They couldn't _leave _him either, they weren't running the risk of losing someone else to Crowley, stranger or no. The Doctor had practically sacrificed himself in order for them to get the tablet, and they'd failed in getting it.

Dean sighed, running a hand through his hair. "So, what, we just sit here and wait for him to wake up? That could take _years," _he said, somewhat reasonably. "We don't have years."

"I know," Sam agreed, both of them watching the Doctor's chest rise and fall. They didn't know _anything _about their roommate, aside from his dual-hearts and a lower body temperature – a thermometer had told them his temperature was around 59 Fahrenheit.

Dean had gone through the man's pockets upon their arrival in the motel, revealing a curious assortment of objects: the "sonic screwdriver" (Dean had pressed the button down and somehow blown out the TV, he put it down quickly after), some string, and a black leather wallet. Upon opening the wallet, Dean discovered it contained a blank piece of paper. No identification at all, not that the Winchesters had been expecting him to carry any.

"All right," Sam said eventually. "How about you do some more research about this, and I'll go grab some food. We can decide what to do later."

Dean nodded his assent, tapping a few keys on the laptop.

* * *

Later came and went, and no decision was made. In fact, the brothers didn't discuss the Doctor at all, instead they argued. About Dean's past year, about Sam's past year, about their difference in ideals; all in hushed tones, like they were worried their immovable companion would suddenly wake and overhear.

Now, the pair were asleep, Sam on the bed (they'd Rock-Paper-Scissored for it, Sam won _again)_, Dean in the motel armchair. As such, neither of them noticed the Doctor take a long breath, expelling a tendril of golden light from his mouth.

* * *

The next morning, Dean awoke to an unfamiliar weight on his body. He frowned groggily, eyes taking in a blanket that had been draped over him. His first thought was maybe that Sam had laid it on him, by way of apology for the night before, but he knew his brother _far_ too well for that. He also spotted his brother still asleep on the bed, tangled up in the sheets. Dean's eyes roved the room, finally finding the break in the symmetry: the Doctor was no longer lying on the other bed.

Another quick search revealed the man: he was stood in the small kitchenette area of the motel room, fiddling with the implements there. Alerted to Dean's movements he turned around, a grin on his face. "You're awake," he said. "Good, I've just made some tea."

Dean accepted the steaming mug without comment. He wasn't a tea-drinker per se, but it was a hot beverage and it was early in the morning, he'd take whatever he could get. To his surprise, the tea was actually quite good.

"When did you wake up?" he asked, placing the mug on the table as he stood and stretched.

"Oh, a few hours ago," the Doctor said absently. "I think. Enough time for me to get the tea and fix the TV," he indicated a tangled mess of wires and circuitry on the floor. "Well, started to fix the TV. That'll teach you to mess with my things."

Dean said nothing in return, instead preferring to take another mouthful of tea. Fortunately, he was saved by Sam waking up, frowning at the pair of them stood by the table.

"You're awake," he finally said, as the Doctor crossed the room to fetch another mug of tea.

"Well observed Mr Winchester," the Doctor grinned, as Sam levered himself upright and out of bed. He took the offered mug of tea, finding, like his brother, that it actually wasn't that bad.

"Thanks," he said, running a hand through his hair, sweeping it off his face.

"Glad you're finally awake," Dean said. "We were starting to run out of ideas about what to do with you."

"Ah, yes, sorry," the Doctor apologised, "one of the side effects."

He sat down, amidst the mess that was formerly the television, before pulling out his screwdriver and picking up the tangled wires. He set about his work with great concentration, leaving the brothers to frown at him and each other.

"Side effects?" Sam asked. "Wanna elaborate?"

"Oh, right," the Doctor said. "Well, as I'm sure you saw, I forced Crowley out. But, it wasn't the most practical way of doing so. I could have detoxed in another way, but I didn't have the materials to hand-"

"Walnuts?" Dean interrupted, wondering how they fit into such a ritual.

"Right, yes, walnuts," the Doctor said. "Last time I had to clean out cyanide poisoning and I used walnuts and ginger beer. Anyway, I didn't _have_ those, so I used the next best thing: regeneration. Regeneration can be seen as the _ultimate _cleansing ritual – I once recovered from severe radiation poisoning with it. I mean, it offers complete cell rejuvenation, at the cost of my entire _self _changing."

"Why didn't you, then?" Sam asked. "Why didn't you change?"

"In short, I used up the main energies to force Crowley out. His... essence couldn't handle the force of it, and so he was expelled. I didn't have enough to change, just enough to recover from his probing."

"That's why he coughed up the gold stuff," Dean realised.

"Did he?" the Doctor asked. "Probably not the best for him, regeneration energy can be quite a problem for those who aren't Time Lord."

He leaned back, before picking up the circuit board he'd been fiddling with, setting it back into the TV. He then rearranged the wires, before replacing the entire set. "Now don't mess with my screwdriver again," he told Dean. "You were two settings away from the Red ones."

"Right," Dean said, shaking his head softly, before finishing his mug of tea. "There any more of this?" he asked. The Doctor indicated the kitchenette, where an entire teapot was waiting.

"What did you use to buy this stuff?" Dean asked, noting the teapot, milk and a large assortment of teabags. It looked as though the Doctor had mixed varieties in order to get the desired flavour he wanted.

"Soniced a cashpoint," the Doctor said absently. "Think I went a bit overboard though, I put the rest of the money up there." He pointed to the mantle. Sam discovered that the Doctor had acquired about three hundred dollars worth of twenties; they were stacked in a neat pile. "Thought you lot might make better use of it than me," he added.

"So, what happens now?" Dean asked, returning with another mug of tea.

"Now we wait for my transport," the Doctor replied, yet another grin lighting his features.

_**A/N: So, yes, here we are at the end of another chapter. Apologies for the slight delay, the beginning of this chapter gave me issues. I hope the Crowley/Doctor argument doesn't confuse too much, I think I indicated well enough who was speaking when. I'm just picturing it and the complete absurdity of it.  
I see one more chapter after this, just to wrap things up.**_  
_**And yes, the walnuts is a reference to the episode "The Unicorn and the Wasp". I always found the detox ritual hilarious.**_  
_**Right, I don't think I have anything to add.**_  
_**Your reviews etc are appreciated greatly, however!**_


	5. Chapter 5

"Your transport?" Sam questioned. "What do you do, drive?"

"_Drive?" _the Doctor asked. "No, I don't. I-" he broke off, searching for an appropriate word. "I don't know what I do. What's the word for travelling the cosmos in a phone box?"

"Insane?" Dean quipped. "Who are you waiting for, then?" he asked. "Who's driving?"

"Not a person," the Doctor said evasively. "I'd hoped that as soon as I woke up I would have got a signal..."

At that moment, the screwdriver in the Doctor's pocket buzzed. "Ah-ha!" he declared, pulling out the gadget and inspecting it. Dean wasn't sure what he was looking at, other than a very close-up view of the gadget, but it appeared to give the Doctor the answer he needed.

"Don't suppose I could have a lift?" he asked. "Only, we're in Colorado and I've no way to get to New Mexico."

"New Mexico? What's in New Mexico?"

"Were you not paying attention? My transport is in New Mexico, I've just been informed that's waiting, safe and sound."

"What, and we're going to search the whole of New Mexico for it?" Dean asked.

"No, it's in Roswell."

"Of course it is," Dean muttered, passing his hand over his eyes.

* * *

Truth be told, the Doctor's transport wasn't at Roswell. About four hours into their trip he told them it was near Alamogordo, which was south-west of Roswell.

"Why is your transport in the back-end of New Mexico?" Dean asked.

"Well, I-" the Doctor began, breaking off. "I may have reset the HADS."

"English, please."

"The Hostile Action Displacement System, I reset the settings recently. If I, or my ship, get into trouble, it relocates. Can't have it falling into the wrong hands, now – you saw the stir _I _caused at the auction, my ship would only serve to cause more."

"Why?" Sam asked.

"You mean besides it being _completely _unique and able to travel through space and time?" the Doctor retaliated.

"Fair point," Sam said, smirking. "Space _and _time?" he repeated. "You can travel in time?"

"Time Lord is more than just a name," the Doctor said. He sat up, leaning over into the driver's seat of the car. "Where are we?" he asked.

"We just passed Las Vegas, New Mexico," Dean informed him.

"Las Vegas!" the Doctor beamed. "Now there's an ideal travel destination. Of course, the one in Nevada. I could go meet Howard Hughes." He seemed particularly thrilled at the idea, which made Sam smile.

"You're like the kid who wants to meet Santa Claus," Dean said.

"I'd _love _to meet him. I could ask if he got my Christmas lists."

"How old are you, twelve?" Dean asked.

"Actually I'm closer to twelve hundred, but that's beside the point," the Doctor said. "What do you think?" he asked Sam. "Find Howard Hughes or find Father Christmas?"

Sam frowned. "Hughes," he said eventually.

"I suppose," the Doctor muttered, sitting back in his seat.

"Hey, I've got a question," Dean said. "How did you meet Crowley? Or, Canton, whatever it was you called him."

The Doctor leaned forward again, resting his forearms on his seat. "One of the problems with time travel is that things don't necessarily happen in the right order. Sometimes that can be an advantage, though, especially for someone like me. There are laws that state I'm not allowed to intervene in my own history, and usually I don't. But this time, I sent myself a message. Myself and my friends; and Canton. Simply, co-ordinates and a date: the 23rd of April 2011. My friends arrived before I did, and there, they met me. Only, it was another me. A future me. And I died."

Both the Winchesters said nothing for a moment. "That was what Crowley said to you. At a lake in Utah, you were glowing gold?" Sam said.

"I started to regenerate, but I was stopped before the process began. And I died. Only I didn't. But to get to that story I have to now start from where the _past _me entered it – back at the diner where my friends first met the future me. I didn't know that at the time, of course, but my friends asked me something, they told me they'd been given the words 'Space, 1969 and Canton Everett Delaware III'. An _entirely _unique combination."

"So you just went along with your friends words? Without question?" Dean asked.

"Don't you, when a friend asks?" the Doctor questioned. "I guess not. Well, at first I was wary, of course, but that soon won over when we'd landed in the Oval Office, and Canton Everett Delaware III was talking to none other than Richard Nixon."

"What was he doing, offering a deal?"

"No, far from that. Canton was a part of the FBI, although he'd been ostracised due to his... ideals, shall we say? Nixon had been getting phone calls from a little girl, a scared little girl. But neither he nor Canton knew where she was, _who _she was, or what was going on. Until I arrived, that is. We narrowed down her location, but she was long gone. All we found was an empty astronaut's suit, engineered to be a life-support for a child."

He paused for a moment. "Anyway, to cut a long story short I saved the day, _and _managed to defeat an alien race that had been on planet Earth since the dawn of time; _and _I got to see the inside of Area 51."

"All with Crowley's help?" Sam asked.

"I wouldn't have been able to do it _without _him," the Doctor said. "The Canton I knew is different from the Crowley of today. Back then, he was willing to go along with a conspiracy for _months _in order to save the world."

"What happened to the girl?" Dean asked. "Did you find her?"

"Ah, well..." the Doctor began. "Now we come to the present, where my friends met a future me and saw me die. In reality I was inside a robot clone, but that doesn't matter. You see, I died when an astronaut came out of the lake and shot me twice in the chest."

"The little girl?" Sam asked. "But you said you found her in the sixties. If you _died _in 2011, she wouldn't be a little girl anymore."

"No, she wasn't. She was a woman, then. A completely unique and _brilliant _woman. She tried to save me, but it was a fixed point in time. And fixed points _cannot _be changed. So, I died. Well, the robot me died, and my enemies were deceived. The _ultimate _Witness Protection."

"You still haven't explained the girl," Dean reiterated.

"Oh, right. Well, no, we didn't find her in 1969. She was raised with only one mission: to kill me. She soon got over _that, _however. We're married now."

"Wow, talk about letting bygones be bygones," Dean said.

The Doctor shrugged. "That's hard to do when you keep meeting in the wrong order. I knew her before I knew who she was. The first time I met her, she knew _everything _about me. Even my name."

"Really?" Sam asked.

"Really," the Doctor repeated. "Someday I'll tell it to her. I'll take her to see the Singing Towers of Darillium, and tell her. Because after that I won't see her again. She should at least know who she married, right?" He smiled softly. "After I take her to the Towers, she'll call for my help. Only, she'll see a different me, a younger me. The first time _I'll _meet her, this strange, impossible woman who knows everything about me. And she'll die for me."

"Dude," Dean said. "Your life is _confusing."_

"Trust me," the Doctor said, "It's even worse living it. I still don't know why Elizabeth the First hates me."

* * *

They reached Alamogordo just before dawn. The Doctor immediately sprang out of the Impala, pulling out his screwdriver and scanning the area around them.

"Breakfast's on me, boys!" he declared, setting off at a very fast walking pace. The Winchesters jogged to keep up, looking at the area around him.

"Why are we here? Why did your- whatever it is- decide to land here?" Sam asked.

"Don't know," the Doctor replied, before stopping short. He turned around in a circle, before picking up a handful of dust and inspecting it.

"Do we know anything about Alamogordo?" he asked.

"I looked it up before we left," Sam said. "Back in the day, it used to be an old frontier town named-"

"_Mercy," _the Doctor realised. "Of _course. _We're in Mercy."

"Let me guess, you came here once," Dean said, beginning to spot a recurring theme.

"Yep," the Doctor confirmed. "Became Sheriff for the day, gave a cyborg a purpose in life, rode a horse called Susan. We were supposed to go to the Day of the Dead festival in Mexico, but instead we ended up in _New _Mexico, it seems." He shrugged. "Not bad, if I say so myself. At least I got it half right. Anyway, now I know where we are, I know where my ship is."

He turned down a side street. It was hard for the Winchesters to picture what this town might have looked like back in the days of the Wild West, but it appeared that the Doctor could see it clearly. He stopped in front of an old-looking building, with a clock tower on the top.

In front of the building, stood a blue box.

"Hello darling!" the Doctor cried, placing a hand on the blue panelling.

"Great, he _is _insane," Dean muttered, as the Doctor rummaged through his pockets, before pulling out a key.

"Want to see something cool?" he asked, before putting the key in the lock and pushing the doors open.

Sam and Dean Winchester had seen many things in their time. Heaven, hell, the works. But today, even they stood amazed at the sight before them, as the Doctor stepped into a place that was completely and utterly _alien. _

"Holy-" Sam began, as they followed him in.

"Go on, I know you're all dying to say it," the Doctor grinned, snapping his fingers; the doors closed behind them.

"It's _awesome," _Dean said.

"Okay, not quite what I was looking for, but it'll do," the Doctor said. "This is the TARDIS. It stands for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space. Say hello, dear," he addressed the ceiling.

The machine whirred in response, making Dean jump and Sam smile.

"It's like this thing's alive," he said.

"She is," the Doctor told him. "She was grown over nine hundred years ago. We didn't build our greatest things, we grew them."

"How big is it-she?" Dean asked.

"Infinite. You can't calculate the size of dimensional transcendence. Personally, I just prefer the 'bigger on the inside' thing you humans normally come out with, it's much more fun than the real science."

He darted around the console as Sam and Dean marvelled at the wonders in front of them, pulling a few levers and instruments.

"Anyway," he said. "Breakfast. And I've got the best idea."

Sam and Dean had barely a moment to grab on as the ship's engine started to whirr and the TARDIS rocketed through the vortex, crashing about in its usual fashion.

"I lied!" Dean shouted over the engine, eyes squeezed shut. "It's not awesome anymore!"

Sam laughed at his brother: able to face down monsters, yet scared of flying. The motion didn't last long, however, and soon the ship was silent again.

"Where are we?" Dean asked, voice half a groan.

"Now that would spoil the surprise," the Doctor said. "Look for yourself."

Sam and Dean approached the door, suddenly apprehensive. _Anything _could be on the other side.

They were both a little surprised to see an ordinary looking street. Not Alamogordo, however. It was a place they both recognised.

"We're in Lawrence?" Dean asked faintly, as they stepped out of the TARDIS, looking at the police station in front of them, proudly declaring that they were indeed in Lawrence, Kansas.

"I- I found your father's journal when I woke up," the Doctor explained, somewhat sheepish. "I thought maybe I could say thank you, only properly. So, this way," he said, leading them down the street to a small diner named _Dusty's_.

When they entered, Dean stopped for a moment, looking round the place. "I know this place," he said. "But it went out of business years ago."

"Not in May 1983 it's not," the Doctor told them, ushering them into a booth.

"1983?" Sam asked, slowly realising what the Doctor was doing for them.

At that moment, the door behind them opened, and a couple walked in. The woman was holding a small baby in her arms, and an older boy trailed behind her, clutching his mother's skirt.

"Looks like we got here just at the right time," they heard the man – _John Winchester – _say. "Barely a free table left."

For a while, the brothers were silent, watching the family of four from across the diner.

"I remember this day," Dean suddenly said to Sam. "Mom had just got outta hospital, so we came here to celebrate. They let me get bananas _and _syrup on my waffles."

At that moment, a waitress appeared by their table, waiting for their orders, only Sam and Dean were too preoccupied with their family – their _happy _family – to notice.

The Doctor spoke quietly to the waitress, nodding to the family across from the diner. She looked confused for a moment, before heading back to the kitchen.

"You remember anything else?" Sam asked his brother, watching the younger Dean smother his waffle in syrup.

"You mean other than getting sick like a dog?" Dean asked, smiling, watching his parents try and coax the syrup bottle out of his hands.

"Here's your order, fellas," the waitress' voice suddenly appeared behind Sam's shoulder. She carried three plates, two piled high with waffles and bananas. The third plate looked as though it didn't even contain a waffle; it was so buried underneath toppings. "Two waffles with bananas, one with _everything," _she frowned at the Doctor, who grinned, "and here's your syrup. Have a nice day, fellas."

"Dude, seriously?" Dean asked, eyeing the Doctor's plate.

"What?" he asked. "Just because _you _restrict yourself to certain flavour combinations doesn't mean _I _have to. Why choose, is what I say."

Sam smirked, taking a bite of his waffle, Dean following suit a second later (after adding a lake of syrup, like his younger self).

"Wow, just like I remember," he said, around a mouthful of banana. "Thanks Doc."

The Doctor nodded, carefully fishing through his own giant waffle combination. "Been a while since I've had breakfast in a real diner," he commented. "Been a long time since I've had breakfast at all."

"I guess days are hard to count when you time travel," Sam said.

"Yeah, and breakfast is usually the boring meal of the day. Not _here, _though," he added. "If that's one thing you humans can really do well, it's breakfast."

They silently chewed over their meal for a while, watching the young Winchester family.

"Y'know, I'm surprised you two haven't run over there, yet, tried to save them, or something," the Doctor said. "It's not your first time travelling into your past, is it?"

"No," Dean said. "And each time we tried to stop them, we always ended up on the same path."

"Was it fixed?" Sam asked. "The day our mom died? Was that why we couldn't change it?"

The Doctor chewed for a few seconds.

"I'm not sure," he said eventually. "It might have been, it might not have been. But you two are _definitely _involved in other fixed points. It's just a feeling I get from you. More than Kevin Tran, _world-changing _fixed, that sort of thing."

"The Apocalypse, maybe?" Dean asked.

"That'd do it," the Doctor grinned. "Quite glad you lot managed to sort that one out, I never do well with religious institutions."

"I wonder why," Dean muttered, earning a smile from everyone at the table.

* * *

"There's something else I remember," Dean said after they'd finished their breakfast, and he and Sam were alone at the table. The Doctor had felt the need to return their plates himself, and offer his culinary ideas to the chef, who didn't look impressed.

"Yeah?" Sam asked, gaze falling on the family of four. He saw himself, a tiny baby, being held in his big brother's arms. He didn't think he'd seen Dean look so happy, gazing at the small child with wonder and awe.

"Yeah. When I was holding you, like I am there, and dad went to pay the check, there was this guy-"

Dean broke off, watching as his younger self bumped into a man.

Of course, it was the Doctor, who turned and gazed down at the pair.

"Son of a bitch," the older Dean muttered.

The Doctor crouched, speaking to Dean in a quiet voice. The brothers watched as the younger Dean spoke, before pointing at the Doctor. The Doctor laughed, before replying; they couldn't hear what.

"I asked him why he was wearing a bow tie," Dean recalled. "Only old people wear bowties."

Sam smirked as Dean continued. "_He _told me that he _was _old, and that bow ties were 'very, very cool', and when I was older maybe I would wear one too."

The Doctor glanced over at the older Winchesters, before the younger Dean presented him with Sam.

"I wanted to show him my baby brother; my mom had asked me to look after him. I _was _a grown up," Dean said quietly, watching the Doctor smile at his younger self. The former then stood upright as Mary approached, searching for her son. At the same time, John found them, and they spoke to the Doctor. At one point John even shook the Doctor's hand.

"I think-" Dean began, frowning as he tried to recall the event. "I think _he _paid for our breakfast."

The Doctor joined them again as the Winchesters left the diner.

"Wonderful people," he said softly. "Your mother was _very _proud. Of both of you."

* * *

The trip back to the TARDIS and subsequent journey through the vortex to 2012 was quiet, aside from the Doctor suggesting that maybe custard would work on waffles. He'd received some strange looks for his suggestion, and soon fell quiet again, understanding the brothers' silence.

"Here we are," he announced, as the TARDIS' movement settled once more. "Alamogordo. It's-" he checked the console's screen in front of him "-five minutes after we left."

True enough, they were back where they'd started, the few people in the town barely noticed as they exited the blue wooden box.

They stood, silent for a few seconds, unsure of what to say, before Sam spoke up.

"What you did, it was- I- we-" he began, struggling to find the right words.

"I know what it's like," the Doctor told them. "To lose people you care about. So I know how much this means. It's why I did it. You helped me when you barely knew me at all." He smiled softly. "Humans, still surprising me. Sometimes you can be undeniably cruel, but for all your faults you still have... _humanity." _

"Too cheesy," Dean told him.

"Probably," the Doctor agreed. "True, though."

"You helped us, when you barely knew _us," _Sam countered. "You gave up your future for us, your last regeneration."

The Doctor grinned awkwardly. "Actually... I didn't. You see, the limit on regenerations was imposed by my people, by the Time Lords. That one I gave up _definitely _wasn't my last; I've got a few more in me."

"You _lied?" _Dean asked.

"What, you think you're the only people who lie on occasion?"

Dean shook his head, a grin forming on his face.

"What will you do now?" Sam asked.

"Oh, you know, go on travelling. I could go to Las Vegas and meet Howard Hughes," the Doctor said, earning a smile from those gathered. "_But, _if either of you two need my help-" he fished around in his jacket pocket, before pulling out a piece of paper, "call me. I'll come."

Sam took the paper, "Thanks," he said.

"This works both ways, y'know," Dean said, handing the Doctor a similar piece of paper. "You got anything you need help with, give us a call."

The Doctor gave a short salute taking the piece of paper. "What about you two?" he asked. "Will you go on... doing what you do?"

"Well, there's a case up in Minneapolis," Dean said. "We'll probably go there."

The Doctor nodded. "Right," he said briskly. "I'll be off, then."

He held his hand out for the brothers to shake, but as soon as Sam took it, he pulled them _both _in for a hug, despite being shorter.

"Oh God, he's like Garth," Dean muttered, although he and Sam both returned the hug.

The Doctor smiled, before stepping back into the TARDIS. "Want to see something cool?" he asked, before closing the door.

From the outside, the noise the TARDIS made was like nothing they'd ever heard. It was incredible, both organic and mechanic.

The brothers watched the TARDIS fade from sight, as the last echoes disappeared into the air around them.

"Y'know, if I didn't know better," Sam said. "I'd say he gave us the wrong number." He was looking at the piece of paper the Doctor had given them. "This one has twenty-four digits.

_**A/N: I lied this is the second to last one. I also discovered that in writing this sequence I'm very bad at cute, vaguely lighthearted stuff.  
I thought the Doctor needed an appropriate way to repay them, so yeah.**_  
_**I hope my explanations of stuff didn't confuse.**_  
_**I don't know if Mercy is actually New Mexico, I basically looked up what the American Frontier and Wild West was - I even street-viewed Alamogordo to see if it fit. It worked well enough, and I was limited because I wanted it to be near Colorado, yet have some sort of relationship to the Doctor. It was either that or Lake Silencio in Utah... So, yes, Mercy came about.**_  
_**Anyway, one more short chapter will follow this, just a couple of epilogues, as it were.**_  
_**Hope you enjoy it!**_


	6. Chapter 6

**Lebanon, Kansas; February 2013**

"Dude, check this out."

Sam threw a folder down onto the table, startling his brother, who'd been in the process of falling asleep over the mass of information the Men of Letters had collected over the years. Dean picked the folder up, flipping open the cover, before grinning.

**_The Doctor_**

**_Species: _**_Unknown, abhuman._

**_Age: _**_Unknown. Reputed to be older than time itself._

**_Powers/Abilities: _**_Mostly unknown. Has some telepathic ability, can change appearance at will, is thought to possess the ability to travel through time, and travels in a small wooden box._

**_Sightings:_**

**_-Troy, Greece, c.1250BC: _**_A man named the Doctor appears to have been of monumental importance during the Trojan War, it is recorded in one instance that he suggested the use of a wooden horse against the walled city._

**_-Rome, AD80_**_: Stone tablet uncovered depicts a family's 'household Gods', being a man and a woman, with a box in the centre depicting their 'temple'. Believed to be the first image of the Doctor ever recorded and preserved to this era. Family were alleged to have survived the eruption of Mt Vesuvius and the burial of Pompeii. Probable the Doctor was involved. [Image of tablet attached.]_

_-__**Holy Land, 1191:**__ A Templar Knight records of meeting a strange man named 'The Doctor' who disappeared into a blue wooden box during the first crusade._

_-__**London, c.1300: **__A convent was saved from 'a demon'[it is not recorded whether it was a true demon or the description given by the monks] by a man they called 'the sainted physician'. Stained glass window in the surviving church contains imagery of a blue box. [Image attached]._

_-__**London, 1599**__: A performance of the lost William Shakespeare play 'Love's Labour's Won' apparently involved a character named 'The Doctor'. Shakespeare himself is said to have talked down a monster from the skies._

**_-London, c.1660: _**_A man named 'the Doctor' is imprisoned in the Tower of London, after he is discovered in the bedroom of King Charles II's daughter Matilda. He was not given trial, and subsequently escaped. [An image of a painting dating from that era is attached, titled 'My Mysterious Doctor', painted by Matilda. It is likely this is the reason for the Doctor's imprisonment.]_

_-__**Mercy (now Alamogordo), NM, USA; 1870: **__A man named the Doctor, along with two companions (recorded as 'The Ponds'), is recorded to have saved the town from annihilation. After his visit, the town never needed a sheriff, despite constant raids by criminals._

_-__**Torchwood Estate, Scotland, 1879:**__ A man named the Doctor, along with a woman named 'Rose', assisted Queen Victoria in dispatching a werewolf [nb, not the Werewolf of common lore, but alien in origin]. The Doctor is subsequently knighted 'Sir Doctor of Tardis[?]' and exiled by the monarch on the same day, upon pain of death. [Formation of the British organisation known as 'Torchwood' occurred at this time; it is likely they are linked.]_

_-__**Southampton, England, April 9, 1912:**__ Image [attached] shows a man with a prominent family. The man, named the Doctor, apparently warned the family about boarding the RMS Titanic; they did not sail on the doomed vessel._

_-__**Berlin, Germany, 1938:**__ Adolf Hitler found in a cupboard after a blue wooden box crashes into his office after he was attacked by one of his lieutenants. He reports being assaulted by a British man, who then subsequently locked him in the cupboard. The lieutenant's body was found later; the British man and his companions were not._

_-__**London, Second World War:**__ Prime Minister Winston Churchill is reported to have sought the aid of a man named 'The Doctor' after the creation of a new weapon to use against Germany. The weapon was never used._

_-__**Dry Springs, Nevada, 1958**__: Events in this location contain evidence of the Doctor's involvement, perhaps even with the Roswell Incident of 1947. Further investigation is needed at this moment in time._

"Wow," Dean commented, "these guys were still keeping track when they went down."

He flipped the pages over, before looking at each of the images the Men of Letters had collected. "He _does _change a lot, doesn't he?" he said. In all, there were six different images of the Doctor; the only image of the Doctor _they_ recognised was a painting.

"Thing is, we can update this file now," Sam said. "We know more about the Doctor, we can add to the sightings and information."

"Get to it, Geek-boy," Dean said, tossing the folder back across the table. "You're the brains here."

* * *

**30 Years Earlier, near the North Pole**

"No! No, stop!" the Doctor cried, watching as his TARDIS disappeared into thin air, leaving behind a large deluge of water.

"The HADS," he grumbled. "Next time, I _swear _I'll remember."

He paused for a moment, discovering that Clara had fallen unconscious, and a group of angry Russians were milling around him.

"We're definitely going to Las Vegas next time."

* * *

_**A/N: And that's it, the end of Hearts and Minds. I just felt I needed to include epilogues for each story.  
The sightings of the Doctor are all taken from Doctor Who episodes, both Classic and the modern revival. These episodes, in the order as they are written above, are:  
-"The Myth Makers" (First Doctor)  
-"The Fires of Pompeii" (Tenth Doctor)  
-"The Crusade" (First Doctor)  
-"The End of Time Pt 1" (Tenth Doctor)  
- "The Shakespeare Code" (Tenth Doctor)  
-"The Impossible Astronaut" (Eleventh Doctor)  
-"A Town Called Mercy" (Eleventh Doctor)  
-"Tooth and Claw" (Tenth Doctor)  
-"Rose" (Ninth Doctor)  
-"Let's Kill Hitler" (Eleventh Doctor)  
-"Victory of the Daleks" (Eleventh Doctor)  
-"Dreamland" (Tenth Doctor; Animation)  
So, yes, that's that.  
I stopped at 1958, seeing as that's where the Men of Letters meet their end via Abbadon.  
Thanks to all for your support, and comments!  
There might be a sequel of sorts, who knows? Watch this space is all I'm saying (although don't expect it any time soon.)  
I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did writing it!**_


End file.
